Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/394

 350 SEQUEL OF JAVANESE HISTORY. ed until sheathed in your breast. On these wordiJ the nobles brought Truna Jaya to the foot of the throne, from whence the prince rising, came near him, and stabbed him to the heart ; the kris pass- ing through and through under the shoulder-blade, and the blood gushing out in a torrent. Anto Gopo, an officer of the palace, repeated the blow, and all the nobles present followed his example, leaving' the body of Truna Jaya thoroughly mangled. The prince rising again from his throne, exclaimed, in a loud voice, — Let his heart be devoured. The chiefs rushed upon the body again, and tearing out the heart, divided it into fragments of a nail's-breadth, and devoured it ac- cordingly. The head they severed from the body, and laid it at the foot of the throne." It appears, farther, on the same authority, that three of the nobles entering even more fully than the rest into the infernal spirit which actuated their sovereign, smeared their naked bodies all over with the blood of the prisoner. The head was carried in procession before the Susunan, and when the savage retired at night to rest, he is reported to have used it as a mat to wipe his feet upon. During the scene in the palace, the Dutch ge- neral officers and party were present, but asto- by names. The kris here named was an ancient heirloom of the royal family, and is still preserved at Surakarta.